• Email Link
• Facebook
• Twitter
• Digg

“Because there are no churches in Saudi Arabia.”

It was a simple message — just a few lines filled in on a parish website form that asked people why they watch worship webcasts from Trinity Church.

I will tell you something candidly: as a priest standing before a congregation, it is quite an experience to be mindful not only of those gathered in Trinity Church, but also of those watching from afar: England, Kenya, Australia, Germany, and across the United States.

Not to mention Saudi Arabia.

This is true for people in the pews as well. It is challenging to maintain the intimacy of an in-person parish setting when the world is watching. Part of the story of Trinity’s near ten years of webcasting its 11:15am Sunday service is this congregation’s ability to say of its liturgical tradition, yes, this is worth sharing. On the other hand, there are times when our connectivity creates intimacy that would not have existed otherwise, or enhances that which was already there.

I’m thinking now of the time when the Very Rev. Robert Osborne, dean of St. John’s Cathedral in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, read the Prayers of the People for the opening Eucharist of Trinity Institute. There he was with his flock in Winnipeg, and there he was as a presence in Trinity Church, connecting two congregations in the same spiritual place.

There is also a charming story that’s become lore around Trinity, that the president of our
Congregational Council gets calls from his mother, who lives in Georgia, telling him not to slouch during services.

Since 2002, more than 800,000 people have taken part in a Trinity worship service online. In our webcasting endeavors, Trinity is blessed with a supportive congregation and Vestry, and a dedicated staff. The number of people worshiping online is growing, whether out of spiritual curiosity or, as our writer from Saudi Arabia suggests, necessity.

Trinity views this as a success, but in a way that is mindful that more work needs to be done. Ideally, the next few years will be spent working with the wider Church on ways for viewers to connect to one another and to churches in local communities. Trinity’s goal is to grow its online congregation tenfold within ten years.

When I think of the Internet of late, I think of Acts. The Scripture says that “On the day of Pentecost all the Lord’s followers were together in one place.” The power the Internet holds for the Church is to provide the opportunity to put us all in one place at one time spiritually — to be the new Pentecost for the Church.

Faithfully,

The Rev. Dr. James H. Cooper, Rector